Archives

July to October 2011

From pre-schoolers through tenured professors, folks in the northern hemisphere have settled into the routines of the academic year. For many, this rhythm eventually ends, but for teachers it can last for decades. Who stands out in your story as an excellent teacher? How are you trying to be a good educator, vocationally or otherwise?

If you think of all of the businesses, organizations and public spaces within a ten-minute walk of your house, what's there? What's missing? Could you survive on the resources within that radius? On local economies and all of the ways we do -- and don't -- support them.

The older we get, the less time we tend to devote to the pleasure of play. It's a developmental pattern, but it tends to go too far, to the extent that we can't remember how to play, or why we should. What is the good purpose of play in the lives of everyone from infants to senior citizens? Played any good games lately?

For many, summer brings vacations, picnics, outdoor sports and other relaxing activities. For others, however, the grind of suffering, insecurity and discomfort is no respecter of seasons. How do we know if our lives are too comfortable? What's the relationship between comfort and justice?